I've been going back and forth between the two. While my Nook 1E still works great I'd like to move to the Kindle world to take advantage of the vast Amazon catalog.

I played with the K4 at Best Buy the other day. It's a very nice machine - quick, very thin, good screen, easy-to-use controls. And the price is certainly right - $79 with Special Offers.

But I think I might miss using the touch screen (which the Nook 1E has at the bottom) to turn pages.

The Nook Simple Touch has a great feel to it and it seems more sturdy than the K4. I also like that the Simple Touch has page turn buttons and a wide bezel to put your fingers on without touching the sensitive screen. But it's $139, much more expensive than either the K4 Special Offers or the K Touch Special Offers.

Amazon's library really isn't all that much bigger than Barnes and Nobles library, if it is bigger at all. At 79$, the Nook Simple Touch seems like the best deal. It has the features of the high-end touch readers at the price of the 79$ economy kindle.

I was in your position but with the T1 and Kindle 4. I ended up really liking the T1 (size, microsd, library checkout on device, etc) and deciding it was the one for me. But then I started missing the Amazon store and some of the deals on it...so Kindle 4 it was as well. The Kindle 4 became the cheapy "don't care if it gets scratched or damaged" reader and it tends to go everywhere with me in one of my pockets. Otherwise, I usually read on the T1 (which has my full library of books), and only turn on the kindle 4 to check out what deals on books amazon has.

So $79 to keep me connected to the amazon store and allow me to take advantage of any new features they come out with, is how I look at it.

Okay, two more things. First, it is allegedly very easy to root a Nook simple touch, which means you can run the kindle app on it. Second, if you don't want to root it, you can always download plugins for calibre that automatically strip drm when you upload books. Just google "apprentice alf" or drm calibre. This will allow you to convert Amazon books into epub and read them on the nook.

As you noted, the K4 Touch will be released shortly. The SO K4 Touch will cost $99. It will have the touch screen that you like and will be very similar to the Nook.

If you are comfortable stripping DRM then you can shop at Amazon and read on your Nook. If you want to move to Amazon for any reason, you can strip the DRM off of your BN books and convert them to put on your new Kindle.

I would get the device you are most comfortable with. The features are pretty similar and the book stores are pretty close in terms of popular, main stream reading material. If you have been able to find books on Amazon and not on BN, then wait for the K4 Touch and make the move. If you are not having trouble finding the books that you want and you don't want to strip DRM and convert, get the refurbed Nook.

Okay, two more things. First, it is allegedly very easy to root a Nook simple touch, which means you can run the kindle app on it. Second, if you don't want to root it, you can always download plugins for calibre that automatically strip drm when you upload books. Just google "apprentice alf" or drm calibre. This will allow you to convert Amazon books into epub and read them on the nook.

Generally I'm a big fan of modifying gadgets & tinkering around with stuff. I used to play around with linux, customize everything and compile my own kernel and such, or jailbreak, unlock my iphone/ipad, root my android, etc... but for a single purpose device like an ereader, IMO it's better to use it as it's designed for. Because everything on it is fined tuned for its specific purpose, from battery life to user operation. For example, yes you can install the kindle app onto the rooted NookSTR, but you lose the hardware optimizations so that you get slower operation and it lacks user definable page refresh(1-6). And to some(myself included), touch screen on an eInk reader is not necessarily desirable.

I would recommend getting them both to test them out and return the one you don't like. Reading the specs and other people's reviews are helpful, but the only way to truly know which one you prefer is to use them few days yourself. Both B&N and Amazon have good enough return policy for you to do that.

I've played with both, and while I'm not really a fan of Amazon's proprietary stance, the Kindle gets my vote because it allows for synching of sideloaded books. I liked the touch screen plus page turn buttons on the Nook, but the touch screen isn't a deal maker/breaker for me. The page turn buttons are. Kindle "no-touch" (as I've been calling it) has the buttons and the whispersynch, so I'm currently planning on a Kindle for myself.

I tested out the Kindle 4 today at Best Buy. It's an impressive little device. I particularly liked its ability to switch to landscape mode - something all e-readers should be able to do. I've missed that in my Nook 1E.

The Nook Simple Touch has a great feel to it and it seems more sturdy than the K4. I also like that the Simple Touch has page turn buttons and a wide bezel to put your fingers on without touching the sensitive screen. But it's $139, much more expensive than either the K4 Special Offers or the K Touch Special Offers.

I expect B&N to drop the prices of the Color and Touch as soon as Amazon releases the Fire and Touch in November.

We decided to go with the Kindle Keyboard 3G, Special Offers. My wife wanted 3G to have access to her email without having to mess with a smartphone (she hates touchscreens) and liked the Kindle's keyboard. She was also attracted by the special offers. This means she'll no longer have any use for her Kobo 1E, which I will inherit and use along with my Nook 1E.